Bookmark



v. PEPE v 2,320,383

June 1, 1943;

Filed Feb. 11, 1941 v INVENToR.

BY WWW Patented June 1, 1943 marko smrgs Parent' oFFlcE BOOKMARK Vincent Pepe, Brooklyn, N. Y.

Application February 11, 1941, Serial No. 378,373

(oi. zs1-4m 9 Claims.

This invention relates to book marks, and more especially to book marks attachable to the cover of a book, and it has for an object to provide a device that can be facilely attached to and removed from the upper edge of the back cover of a book and accurately positioned and securely held 'thereon frictionally and without mutilation of or injury to the cover, said device having a lateral extension adapted to lie on any of the right hand pages of the book at which the extension is inserted, and which functions as a book mark and holds the engaged leaf down and all succeeding leaves against the back cover until the engaged page is turned by the finger of the reader when, the structure of the lateral extension being such, the turned page engages the lateral extension and moves it out over the top of the turned page simultaneously increasing the tension inherent in the resilience of the extension so that the extension forthwith Springs into spring clip lies over the top edge of the rear cover 1 of the book at the outer corner; an arm has one end fixed on the clip by solder or otherwise and extends along the upper edges of the leaves of the book laterally and inwardly and somewhat obliquely thereto; said arm is formed of small gauge Wire, the total length of which is less than the Width of a page of the book, springy thruout its length and at its inner end bent down and outwardly in the form of a semicircle whose diameter is approximately one-third the length of the arm; the end of this semicircular finger is finally bent down and inwardly in the form of a small circular loop' which provides a smooth curved contact with the engaged leaf of the book and holds the end of the Wire out of contact with the leaf of the book to prevent any possible scratching of a page of the book. In turning a page of the book the upper edge of the page gradually lifts the arm and the semicircular bent-down finger and the face of the page engages the small end loop to force the semicircular finger portion to fiex and to move in and up over the top of the page and to spring down into position on the next succeeding right hand page.

Prior attempts have been made in the art to provide book marks having a part mounted on the cover of the book, but they have up to now failed to meet the public requirements of a book mark in being too complicated in structure with resulting high manufacturing cost, and/ or in failing to operate perfectly from one sheet to the next under all conditions of use, and/or in having parts interfering with the fingers of a reader, and/ or in easily getting out of order. It is a further object of my invention to provide a book mark detachably mountable on the top of the back cover of a book that is free from all of the above-cited defects and of low manufacturing cost.

In order to assure uniformly certain performance, especially on the early pages of the book when the lateral spring arm and its'semicircular finger are flexed to the maximum, it is important that the spring clip on which the spring arm is supported be uniformly positioned and precisely at the upper outer corner of the back cover of the book and so therefore I construct the spring clip to provide a square engaging both sides of the corner of the cover.

Other objects Will appear as the description proceeds.

Reference is made to the drawing in which Figure 1 is a perspective view from the right side but enlarged.

Figure 2 is an end view showing the upper right corner of the book but enlarged.

Figure 3 is a fragmentary rear view showing an emblem on the outside of the clasp and the upper back corner of a book.

Figure 4 is a plan view of the top of a book open at the book mark With the open sheet fiat or in the reading position.

Figure 5 is a plan view showing the top part of a book with a sheet turned up and the end of the book mark about to snap on the' next succeeding sheet. l

Figure 6 is a top view of Figure 5.

A clasp H) may be formed of fiat spring metal looped over at the top to form an outside plate l l engageable with the outside of the back cover C of a book and an inside plate IZ engageable with the inside of the back cover C. Anemblem or any design 13 may be formed on or attached to the outside plate Il on the rear surface thereof. A spring 14 may be formed in the inside plate 12 by cutting out the metal on three sides so that the clasp I has a strong resilient grip onv the cover C. Ears 15 and iS may be stamped out and bent at right angles to the plate l2 and toward the plate Il to form guides engageable with the top of the cover C, and an ear l'l may be bent similarly at right angles to the inside plate IZ at the outer edge thereof to form a guide engageable with the Vertical edge of the cover C. The guides 15, IE, and l'l assure that when the clasp II) is mounted on the cover C it will exactly overlie the corner symmetrically therewith.

Transversely of the inner plate I2 a small gauge springy steel wire arm I8 may be afiixed by solder or otherwise, inclined downwardly and inwardly so that the outer part of the arm tends to engage the upper edges of the sheets S of the book. The Wire I8 may extend inwardly to a point beyond the middle of a sheet S of the book, lie on the right-hand page thereof, and terminate in a downwardly and outwardly extending semicircular finger IQ, having an extent which is about one-third that of the arm I8 and terminating in a small downwardly and inwardly turned loop ZI which presents a round smooth nonscratching surface to the face of an engaged sheet 3.

Referring to Figure 4, the positions of 'the arm I 8 and the finger l 9 are shown with the engaged page flat, but in Figures 5 and 6 the positions of ,the arm IB and the finger -I9 are shown With a sheet S partly turned from right to left. The arm I 8 fiexes thruout -its extent and the finger I9 iiexes slightly to increase the angle of its arc as the loop 2I approaches the top edge 2I of the sheet S that is being turned. A considerable angular aperture A is provided between the sheet vS engaged by the loop and the next succeeding or flat sheet S. The top of the turned sheet S is also usually drawn down a bit below the top of the next succeeding top fiat sheet S so that the stored energy of the arm I8 and the finger fIB-combined causes the loop 2I to drop instantly into the aperture A when the loop 2I passes over the top -of the turned sheet S and to fall upon :z

and engage the right hand page of the next vsuc- -vceeding sheet S. The arm I8 and spring finger -I9 are of such material and so formed that sumcient stored energy is built up by turning a sheet S to cause uniform and certain action from vsheet to sheet. This action is certain even if in turning a sheet the reader grasps it near Vthe top corner 'because the flexing of the arm I8 and the finger I9 invariably permits a sufficiently large angular aperture A to be made before the end loop 2| moves up to the top of the page.

I have shown -and ldescribed a preferred embodiment of my invention but I realize that, in view of my disclosure, many changes in material,

form, sizes and proportions of parts will readily occur to those skilled in the art, and I do not choose to limit myself to the exact disclosure herein.

I `claim:

l. In a book mark, in combination, a clip having two parts connected at the top, one part adapted to engage the inside and the other part adapted to engage the -outside of the cover of a fbook, and an arm formed of an integral and springy Wire having its outer end fixed on the clip approximately parallel with the top and having its inner end downwardly curved to form a springy finger having a reverse bend the end of which is turned :reversely in a small circular loop to present a vsmooth polished surface to a page of a book and freely slidable thereon.

2. Ina book mark, in combination, a clip having t-wo parts connected at the top, one part adapted to engage the inside and the other part adapted to :engage the outside of the cover of a book, and `an arm formed of integral and springy Wire lhaving its outer end fixed on the clip approximately parallel with the top thereof and having its inner end downwardly curved to form -a springy finger having a reverse bend the end Cel of which has a smooth curved surface engageable with a leaf of a book and freely slidable thereon.

3. In a book mark, in combination, a clip having two parts connected at the top, one part adapted to engage the inside and the other part adapted to engage the outside of the cover of a book, and an arm formed of integral and springy wire having its outer end fixed on the clip approximately parallel with the top thereof but obliquely downward and having its inner end downwardly curved `to form a springy finger having a reverse bend the end of which has a smooth curved surface engageable With a leaf of a book and freely slidable thereon.

4. In a book mark, in combination, a clip having two parts connected at the top, one part adapted to engage the inside and the other part adapted to engage the outside of the cover of a book, and an arm formed of integral and springy Wire having its outer end fixed on the clip approximately parallel With the top thereof and having its inner end downwardly curved to form a springy finger having a reverse bend the end of which has a smooth curved surface engageable with a sheet of a book, the intermediate part of the arm being substantially straight when over-lying the last page of a book and freely slidable thereon.

5. In a book mark, in combination, a clip having two parts connected at the top, one part adapted to engage the inside and the other part adapted to engage the outside of the cover of a book, and a part engaging the top of the cover of the book to position the clip vertically, and an arm formed of integral and springy wire having its outer end fixed on the clip approximately parallel with the top thereof and having its in- 'ner end downwardly curved to form a springy finger having a reverse bend the end of which has a smooth curved surface engageable With a sheet of the book and freely slidable thereon.

6. In a book mark, in combination, a clip having two parts connected at the top, one part adapted to engage the inside and the other part `adapted to engage the outside of the cover of a book, a part engaging the top of the cover of 'the book to position the clip vertically and a part engaging the side edge of the cover of the book to position the clip laterally, and an arm formed of integral and springy Wire having its outer end fixed on the clip approximately parallel with the top thereof and having its inner end downwardly curved to form a springy finger having a reverse bend the end of which has a smooth curved surface -engageable with a sheet of the book and freely slidable thereon.

'7. In a book mark, in combination, a clip comprising two parts having substantially parallel flat surfaces and a top connection, one part adapted to engage the inside and the other part adapted to engage the outside of the back cover of a book, and an arm formed of an integral, uniformly gauged, and springy wire having its outer end fixed on the inside part of the clip approximately parallel with the top thereof, and having its inner end bent to form a downwardly and outwardly extending substantially semicircular finger the end of which is turned reversely in a small circular loop so that the end of the wire has a smooth contact With the contiguous page of the book, the intermediate part of the arm being substantially straight when the finger overlies the last page of the book but easily fiexed thruout when the semicircular finger is placed on the first page of the book and easily flexed to permit said finger to slide freely toward the upper edge of a page that is being turned and thereafter to slide downward upon the succeeding page.

8. In a book mark, in combination, a clip comprising two parts having substantially parallel fiat surfaces and a top connection, one part adapted to engage the inside and the other part adapted to engage the outside of the back cover of a book, a third part adapted to engage the top edge of the cover of the book, and a fourth part adapted to engage the side edge, and an arm formed of an integral, uniformly gauged, and springy wire having its outer end fixed on the inside part of the clip approximately parallel with the top thereof and downwardly, having its intermediate portion normally substantially straight, and having its inner end bent to form a downwardly and outwardly extending substantially semicircular finger the end of which is turned reversely in a small circular loop, the arm and the finger so fiexing when lying upon a page of a book that is being turned and being so charged with stored energy that the small loop and the finger may slide toward the top of the page and thereafter instantly enter the aperture under the turned page and engage the succeeding page.

9. In a book mark, in combination, a clip havin'g two parts connected at the top, one part adapted to engage the inside and the other part the outside of the cover of a book, and an integral arm formed of a thin springy Wire having its outer end fixed on the clip approximately parallel to the top thereof, and having its inner end downwardly and outwardly curved to form a substantially semicircular finger, the end of which has a smooth curved surface engageable with a leaf of a book, the arm and finger being adapted to flex inwardly and upward when lying on a page that is being turned and thereafter to return to normal position and engage the succeeding page.

VINCENT PEPE. 

